


gold

by gothyringwald



Series: state of the heart (harringrove tumblr fic) [7]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Slice of Life, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 20:45:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14756024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothyringwald/pseuds/gothyringwald
Summary: Moonlight washes Billy in silver, sucking all the colour from his skin. Even in the daylight, though, he's pale, now. It's been months since Billy's skin has seen the full sun, California gold faded to peaches and cream. Still beautiful, Steve thinks. Always beautiful.Steve muses on Billy's fading tan and what will happen to them once school is out and summer is here.(Originally posted on tumblr for the prompt 'you were always gold to me').





	gold

**Author's Note:**

> Another of those prompt fics I'm slowly slowly (glacially) uploading here! This one was for the prompt 'You were always gold to me'. Original post [here on tumblr](http://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/post/173496327254/not-sure-if-youre-at-your-prompt-limit-i-saw).

A cool draught raises goosebumps on Steve's skin as he strokes his hand along Billy's back, walks his fingers up the notches of his spine. Billy hums in his sleep, hugging his pillow. His skin is soft and sleep warm. Steve presses his thumb to the depression at the base of Billy's skull, then runs the flat of his palm down his back, again, letting it rest on the curve of his backside. 

Moonlight washes Billy in silver, sucking all the colour from his skin. Even in the daylight, though, he's pale, now. It's been months since Billy's skin has seen the full sun, California gold faded to peaches and cream. Still beautiful, Steve thinks. Always beautiful.

Steve presses a kiss to the mole on Billy's left shoulder and moves from where he's been perched on the edge of the bed. That's when Billy stirs and says, 'Don't stop.'

Steve huffs. Billy is better at vocalising what he wants when he's sleepy, doesn't shy from the gentle touches Steve knows he craves. The only other time he's good at it is when they're having sex.

Steve sits, again, places a hand on Billy's shoulder, rubs his thumb along the wing of his shoulder blade. Billy rolls over.

'Hi,' Steve says.

'Hey,' Billy says, blinking up at Steve. 'What time is it?'

'Late,' Steve says, running his fingers over Billy's collarbone. He hadn't been able to sleep, the dwindling spring making a strange kind of panic stir within him. It's the first time the coming summer doesn't have school waiting on the other side and the uncertainty makes Steve restless. He swallows. 'Or early.'

'Hmm,' Billy says, letting his eyes fall shut.

Steve drags his fingers down Billy's sternum. He rests his open palm on Billy's stomach, pushes it back up over his chest, wraps it around Billy's throat, gently. Billy's pulse flutters beneath his thumb. Steve leans over and kisses Billy, soft and slow. 

'Beautiful,' Steve murmurs.

Billy smiles but it turns to a frown when he looks down at where Steve's hand is now splayed on his belly. 'I'm so pale,' he gripes, not for the first time. 'Like a ghost. Fucking Indiana.'

Steve will admit that he sometimes misses the sight of tanned skin under his hands. But, though the gold has faded from his complexion, there's still something golden about Billy. It comes from inside of him. Steve sees it in moments when they're alone. In Billy's smile—his real one. In the way he looks at Steve when they make love.

Steve doesn't say any of this, though. Instead, he presses a kiss to Billy's jaw and says, 'You're still sexy, though, _Casper_.' 

Billy smiles, lazy and crooked, and says, 'Damn right I am.'

'And so modest.'

'If you want modesty, you'll have to look somewhere else.'

Billy does this, sometimes. Jokes about Steve finding someone else, but Steve knows that Billy is always a little bit serious when he says those things, too. Steve doesn't know if it's uncertainty or if Billy is trying to tell Steve something, but he says, 'Nope, you're it for me.' He leans in and adds, 'My sexy ghost.'

Billy scrunches his nose up at that and then pulls until Steve is lying on top of him, face smushed into the crook of Billy's neck. 'God, just go back to sleep,' he says.

'OK,' Steve says, shifting until he's lying at Billy's side. He doesn't go back to sleep, though, not right away, at least. Instead, he resumes mapping Billy's skin with his hands and doesn't let his eyes fall shut until Billy is sleeping, again. He wonders if Billy dreams of sun and surf. If summer will take Billy back to California, away from Steve. Billy's heart thrums steadily beneath Steve's palm and when Steve falls asleep he dreams of golden skin, sun-bleached hair and the promise of something beyond the spring.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :) 
> 
> You can find the fic [here on tumblr](http://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/post/173496327254/not-sure-if-youre-at-your-prompt-limit-i-saw) if you're into reblogging or just come say hi to me over there if you like [@gothyringwald](http://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also, not entirely relevant, but I had ["Gold" by Spandau Ballet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc) in my head just about the entire time I was writing this. Luckily, it's a great song! ;D


End file.
